so i bought a muzzle and i am glad i did

[Mrs.K]

Hubbie and I went on a walk with all four dogs today and for the first time I saw a behavior in Ma that made me go straight to Petco and get a muzzle fitted on her. Sadly they only have the mesh muzzles left but its better than nothing. Her prev. Owner warned me that ever since the fight she shows reactivity but that is not just reactivity. She saw another dog and snapped on Indra and Nala out of frustration. At Petco, once I had the right muzzle, I left it on and I am glad I did. On the way to the register a black lab passed us and if it wasn't for the muzzle she would have bitten.

I do believe the previous owner that she did not do it before. If she did she would have shown the same leash aggression when she met my friends dog. It only happens when she is on leash. She is perfectly fine off leash. Honestly, I won't play around with this and won't take any chances.

After that we went to tractor supply to get some food. Boy, do people give a dog with a muzzle "the look". I did say "it is not because of people but because of dogs." And instantly, they relaxed and even petted her after they asked if it is okay.
She is a great people dog. But we will have a lot of work ahead of us regarding the leash aggressiveness and this time, no experiments. I rather am safe than sorry and meanwhile, I have no issues with putting a muzzle on a dog. Should have done the same with Zenzy.

[x0emiroxy0x]

I know "the look". When Rocky wears a head collar people think it is a muzzle and give him a wide berth. Glad you found out she needed it before any damage was done! Good luck to training, hopefully it won't be too long of a road.

[Mrs.K]

Yeah. While she's sweet, she does have some sharpness in her but I think that comes with the breed.

However, the leash thing, I would have never expected it to be like that. I did not see that coming at all. She went from 0 to 500 in a split second, seeing that dog and bit Nala and then Indra.

And then at Petco... yah, Muzzle is definitely the right choice. The least thing I need is another vet bill or more attention in this city.

[Sunflowers]

How does the sharpness manifest itself?
I was told Hans could be sharp given his pedigree, but I must admit I don't know what to look for, or how to address it if I see it.

[Mrs.K]

I'm not quite sure if the english "sharpness" is the same as the german sharpness?

[Jag]

Geez, I feel so sorry for this girl!! My last male was totally messed up with the neighbor dog after he attacked him. His attitude was never the same. It's heartbreaking when a good dog gets attacked and then has these issues. My boy had always been so good natured up until then. I was also shocked the first time he saw that dog again and went into instant 'kill' mode. It was scary coming from him! I hope you're able to help this girl back to her normal state of mind.

[NoVAGSDGuy]

Sorry to hear you have to go through this. I ran into a neighbor one time who wanted to let their dog play with mine, and I was a newby at the time and didn't think to much of letting them play together on a leash....big mistake....It latched onto my Abby's face and wouldn't let go, she finally yanked free and was going to kill that dog....I got her calmed down, and the other owner was leaving I said hold on a second calm your dog.

Once they were in a better state, I got them to play and wrestle again for a few seconds....luckily no fight happened and I separated them on my terms....I dunno if this helped but a couple days later Abby saw that dog running loose through the neighborhood, and instead of getting angry at the dog that made her bleed, she wagged her tail....

Luckily she hasn't shown any outward aggression to dogs since, but she does have trouble backing down to other dogs, dunno if that stems from that incident or its just in her nature.

[msvette2u]

She went from 0 to 500 in a split second, seeing that dog and bit Nala and then Indra.

This is redirection due to not being able to get at the other dog(s).
I had a Chow do this to me over a cat - I was the closest thing around. He saw the cat, couldn't get at the cat (short leash) and redirected onto me. I narrowly avoided being bitten, and he whipped around at least 3x trying to nail me.

Be aware she may redirect onto you when she's frustrated, if there's no dog to redirect on. Not a given, but it's a possibility.

I would think...and I'm no expert at all, so, correct me if I'm wrong...that she's rather like a Dachshund in a way, our doxies love each other and cuddle all the time, but they can go from being sweet/nice to fighting with another in the blink of an eye.
Being hyper-aware of triggers and avoiding those triggers helps but it's tiring to be "on guard" all the time, too.

[Mrs.K]

Originally Posted by msvette2u

This is redirection due to not being able to get at the other dog(s).
I had a Chow do this to me over a cat - I was the closest thing around. He saw the cat, couldn't get at the cat (short leash) and redirected onto me. I narrowly avoided being bitten, and he whipped around at least 3x trying to nail me.

Be aware she may redirect onto you when she's frustrated, if there's no dog to redirect on. Not a given, but it's a possibility.

I would think...and I'm no expert at all, so, correct me if I'm wrong...that she's rather like a Dachshund in a way, our doxies love each other and cuddle all the time, but they can go from being sweet/nice to fighting with another in the blink of an eye.
Being hyper-aware of triggers and avoiding those triggers helps but it's tiring to be "on guard" all the time, too.

Yep, and that is exactly why I bought the muzzle. I want to see those triggers without getting bit.

[Jax08]

Redirected aggression is hard. So many things can set them off. Sierra does that whenever there is any excitement or anyone gets to close to Scott. She attacked Jax one day because the washer went off balance. she attacked both Jax and Banshee because we were on our knees doing something and the other dogs were standing near us. We started at a trainers with them but then Jax reinjured her leg.